News from BarrowJournal - Topics from October, 2012

The Barrow Journal has won four national awards for its articles and photos published in 2011, including a first place award for best sports photo and second place for best local news coverage and community service. The Journal was honored Saturday at the annual convention of the National Newspaper Association held in Charleston, SC. ...
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“There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness and truth.” - Leo Tolstoy Our dog, Raffi, died a few weeks ago and that made everyone who knew him over the 11 long years of his life sad. There wasn’t much that was special about Raffi. In fact, it was his lack of “special-ness” that made him great. He was a simple-minded ...
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We hear a lot about the poor state of the nation’s education system. Some public schools are in turmoil, especially in states where public unions are allowed and teachers have gone on strike over budget cuts (Georgia doesn’t allow unions for public employees.) At the center of this issue is the fact that despite having thrown a tremendous ...
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With the City of Winder beginning an aggressive campaign to annex property near Highway 316, Town of Bethlehem officials want to play a role in determining which commercial areas go into which municipality. “I don’t think we are out of the race yet,” Bethlehem Mayor Sandy McNab said during Monday’s council meeting. “I want to hire ...
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The Barrow County Board of Education agreed during its meeting on Tuesday to move forward with $16 million in bond financing for new school construction, buses and technology. Chairman Mark Still polled the board members, but did not take a vote on the proposed bond sale. Every board member said they approved a timeline that would put the issue ...
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Barrow County’s supervisor of Geographic Information Services offices is on paid administrative leave for the rest of the year while attorneys finalize a settlement of a federal discrimination lawsuit she filed in April. Sophia “Tonie” Russell, a 21-year employee of the county government, left her position on Sept. 21, and according to a ...
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Around 3,000 county voters have been notified that they need to update their information, or be placed on an "inactive" voter list. But Barrow County elections supervisor Monica Franklin said Tuesday that voters who have received notices from her office in September would still be able to vote in next month’s general election without having ...
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Winder will have its annual Christmas parade downtown this year. But one tradition will change — the date — and some downtown merchants will not like it. The parade will be the third Saturday of December rather than the first Saturday. That’s the next to the last Saturday before Christmas, and the downtown event will require the closing ...
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The Winder Police Department’s planned hand-off of emergency dispatching to the Barrow County E-911 Center last week ran into an unexpected technological obstacle. For the time being, the E-911 Center will continue to accept the city’s emergency calls, but communications officers during the day shift will dispatch the calls from the E-911 ...
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The Winder Police Department’s planned hand-off of emergency dispatching to the Barrow County E-911 Center last week ran into an unexpected technological obstacle. For the time being, the E-911 Center will continue to accept the city’s emergency calls, but communications officers during the day shift will dispatch the calls from the E-911 ...
[Full Story »]